As a tribute to the first second day of Spring, I am sharing with you an ice cream recipe I created ages ago (in the depths of winter (for me, it’s never too cold for ice cream!). I just couldn’t share it while the weather was so frosty and although it’s still very cold, it’s Spring, and I am giddy about that. So ice cream. I got this combination idea from What Katie Ate’s first cookbook, however I’ve added my take on it by using buttermilk. It adds a creamy, tangy and delicious flavour that I just know you’re going to love.

I especially love roasting strawberries as it really brings out the flavour and creates a nice jam like consistency which is perfect for swirling through the creamy buttermilk ice cream.

As i’ve created a ebook of healthy ice creams, I thought today I’d live a bit large and do the opposite. This ice cream is not the slightest bit healthy. Real cream, real white (shock gasp!) sugar and LOADS of egg yolks. It’s worth it though, it’s perfection.

I absolutely love how this recipe has come out, a tangy, sweet, creamy and more-ish buttermilk ice cream swirled with sticky roasted strawberries and black pepper. You’re going to want to make all the way through Summer. Trust me.

Happy Spring everyone!

Don’t forget to hashtag #cookwiththemacadames when making my recipes. I love to see how you went and get a peek at your kitchen table.

Method:

1. To make the strawberries: Preheat oven to 200°C. Line your baking tray. Trim and quarter your strawberries. In the small mixing bowl, toss them with the maple syrup, tapioca starch and lemon juice. Pop into the oven to roast for around 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes to prevent burning. Once cooked, set aside to cool completely. Once cool, take half your strawberries and puree mash them up using a fork so it’s a jammy puree consistency. Leave the other half untouched.

2. To make the ice cream: Make the cornflour slurry by mixing the corn flour with a few drops of buttermilk. In the large saucepan, combine the thick cream and one cup of sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile in the large mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup of sugar.

3. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and drizzle a small amount into the yolks, slowly, and whisking constantly to keep the eggs from curdling. Do this a few more times to warm up the yolks before pouring the yolk mixture back into the cream, whisking constantly. You can’t rush this step – it’s very important to take your time to avoid curdling the eggs.

4. Add the cornflour slurry and vanilla bean seeds + husk and cook the cream mixture over low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat. Discard vanilla bean husk. Whisk in the buttermilk, salt, black pepper and pureed strawberries.

5. Cool ice cream mixture completely then pour into your ice cream maker and follow manufacturers instructions. I find 30-40 minutes is the perfect time for most batches. You’ll need to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t over churn. It should be a frozen creamy texture but not solid. 10 minutes before finishing churning, add the roasted strawberries mixture (the part not pureed).

6. Transfer to a freezer safe container and pop into the freezer to set. Leave for at least 3-5 hours but overnight is ok too. If you freeze overnight, you should get it out at least 10 minutes before you want to serve.

Storage: the ice cream will keep in the freezer safe container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.